Tag Archive for Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program

Consequences of Internal Renenue Service Tax Compliance for Offshore Residents

Since the time the IRS announced the revised Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, there has been a consistent restlessness among American expats. At the forefront of this change is the inclusion of the Streamlined Compliance Procedure Program, which is available to U.S. individual taxpayers residing in the United States as well as those who live abroad.

The Streamlined Foreign procedures cater to those U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents – i.e., expats – who satisfy the non-residency requirement. The non-residency requirement has two strands. First, the taxpayer must not have a U.S. abode. And second, the taxpayer must have lived outside of the U.S. for at least 330 full days in at least one (or more) of the most recent three years for which the U.S. tax return due date (or properly Read More

Written by | Posted in OVDP

Pinter Bank Swells List of Foreign Banks To Which Enhanced OffShore Penalty Applies

Most U.S. taxpayers who enter the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program must pay an offshore penalty equal to 27.5 percent of the highest year’s aggregate balance of their offshore accounts during an eight-year look-back period. On August 4, 2014, the IRS increased this penalty from 27.5% to 50% if the following conditions exist:

(1) At the time the taxpayer initiated their disclosure, one or more of the following applies:

a. A foreign financial institution at which the taxpayer had an account had been publicly identified as being under investigation, the recipient of a John Doe Summons or is cooperating with a government investigation, including the execution of a deferred prosecution agreement or non-prosecution agreement; or Read More

Written by | Posted in OVDP

What Do You Do Next After You’ve Been Pre-accepted Into OVDP?

You’ve submitted your OVDP letter and attachments to the Voluntary Disclosure Coordinator and are reclining in your arm chair watching the “big game” while opening up the day’s mail. The upper left-hand corner of one of the envelopes in your pile is adorned with the IRS’s logo. You open it up. The letter is but a few paragraphs long and as you start glancing at it you breathe a sigh of relief. It says that your disclosure has been preliminarily accepted by CI as timely.

It provides instructions for the second phase: completing and submitting the full voluntary disclosure package to the Austin Campus within 90 days of the date of the timeliness determination (and cooperating with the examiner in resolving all civil liability). You’ve made it this far, but you are uncertain about what is meant by a “full voluntary disclosure Read More

Written by | Posted in OVDP

Thinking of Hiding Money Abroad? Don’t Be A “Dirty Dog!”

In a recent IR published on January 28, 2015, the IRS said that avoiding taxes by hiding money or assets in unreported offshore accounts remains on its “annual list of scams known as the ‘Dirty Dozen’ for the 2015 filing season.” The article is quoted below:

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today said avoiding taxes by hiding money or assets in unreported offshore accounts remains on its annual list of tax scams known as the “Dirty Dozen” for the 2015 filing season.

“The recent string of successful enforcement actions against offshore tax cheats and the financial organizations that help them shows that it’s a bad bet to hide money and income offshore,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “Taxpayers are best served by coming Read More

Written by | Posted in Individual • International • IRS • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

Hiding Money Or Income Offshore Among The List Of Tax Scams For The 2015 Filing Season

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was proud to announce that “the recent string of successful enforcement actions against offshore tax cheats and the financial organizations that help them shows that it’s a bad bet to hide money and income offshore and he encouraged taxpayers to come in voluntarily and getting their taxes and filing requirements in order.”

Since the first Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) opened in 2009, the IRS reports there have been more than 50,000 disclosures and the IRS has collected more than $7 billion from this initiative alone. The IRS also has conducted thousands of offshore-related civil audits that have produced tens of millions of dollars. Finally, the IRS has also pursued criminal charges leading to billions of dollars in criminal fines and Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • IRS • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

A Recipe For Whipping Up The Streamlined Offshore Penalty In Three Easy Steps

Before reading this blog, I make the following disclaimer. If it is getting close to lunch time and you can hear your stomach growling, you might want to put off reading this until after lunch. Readers who disregard this warning are doing so at their own risk.

Calculating the offshore penalty within the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures can be tricky. It’s not as simple as tying your shoes. Before delving into the tricky part, let’s cover three basic concepts:

(1) The offshore penalty under the streamlined domestic offshore procedures is 5%.

(2) The 5% penalty is calculated based upon the value of foreign financial assets that would have otherwise formed the basis of the civil miscellaneous penalty under the Read More

Written by | Posted in OVDP

IRS Just Made Life Easier: Fillable Forms for Streamlined 2014

The IRS has really streamlined the Streamline Procedures. IRS has just updated the Streamlined Procedure forms for both its “offshore” and “domestic” procedures. All is now in fillable format; even the statement of facts can be cut and pasted right onto the Form.

Certification for Persons OUTSIDE the US

Certification for Persons INSIDE the US

You can learn more about the new Streamlined Procedures at my blog post, here.

Original Post By:  Virginia La Torre Jeker, J.D. Read More

Written by | Posted in IRS

Who Decides Whether To Authorize A Taxpayer’s Certification For Transitional Treatment To The Streamlined Procedures?

Earlier this week, I spoke to an IRS Revenue Agent who shed some light on how the decision regarding transitional treatment is made for those taxpayers seeking to transition to the Streamlined Procedures from OVDP. Under the current procedures, the agent and his or her supervisor make the decision regarding transitional treatment, with involvement as necessary by the technical adviser. Practically speaking, the technical adviser does nothing more than “rubber stamp” the decision made by the examiner and the examiner’s manager.

While the process might seem straight-forward, it is not always seamless. That is where Streamlined Transition FAQ 8 comes into play. It provides some role for a central committee in those cases designated for central committee review. Unfortunately, no Read More

Written by | Posted in OVDP

Disparity In Treatment of Taxpayers Who Qualify For Transitional Relief Is Casting A Shadow On The New Streamlined Procedures

Many tax practitioners have become disenchanted with the IRS’s treatment of those who are transitioning from OVDP to the Streamlined Procedures. What is the source of this disenchantment? Very simply, the IRS is denying the nonwillful certification in a disproportionately high number of cases.

To make matters worse, the process of denial is somewhat of an enigma. In OVDP cases, the IRS has more than just the certification. It also has the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Letter and the accompanying documents that make up the final submission. According to many tax practitioners, if the certification causes the IRS to doubt the taxpayer’s claim that he was nonwillful, then its default position is to deny transitional relief. Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • International • OVDP

How Do I Determine My Liability For FBAR Penalties Under the Penalty Mitigation Guidelines?

The IRS has authority to assert FBAR civil penalties. Contrary to popular belief, an FBAR violation doesn’t automatically mean that a penalty will be asserted. Examiners are expected to exercise discretion, taking into account the facts and circumstances of each case, in determining whether penalties should be asserted. For example, the examiner may determine that the facts do not justify asserting a penalty. In that case, the examiner will issue an FBAR warning letter, Letter 3800.

According to IRM 4.26.16.4, the sole purpose of the FBAR penalty is to promote compliance with the FBAR reporting and recordkeeping requirements. In exercising their discretion, examiners should consider whether issuing a warning letter and securing delinquent FBARs, rather than asserting a penalty, will achieve the desired result of Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • OVDP

Filing Qualified Amended Returns vs. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures: What Is My Best Option?

On June 18, 2014, the IRS announced major changes in its offshore voluntary compliance programs. The changes include an expansion of the streamlined filing compliance procedures and key modifications to the 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP).

The expanded streamlined procedures are available to a wider population of U.S. taxpayers living outside the country and, for the first time, to certain U.S. taxpayers residing in the United States. The modifications to the existing OVDP program provide, in part, for an increased offshore penalty from 27.5% to 50% in certain circumstances.

Options for U.S. Taxpayers with Undisclosed Foreign Accounts

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Written by | Posted in Individual • IRS • OVDP
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